US Secretary of Transportation Elaine L. Chao today joined Port Houston officials at Port Houston to formally award more than $39 million in grant funding from the US Department of Transportation’s Maritime Administration (MARAD) to two Texas ports. This funding comes by way of nearly $280 million in discretionary grant funding awarded under the Department’s Port Infrastructure Development Program, which aims to improve port facilities at or near coastal seaports across America.
The Port of Houston will receive more than $21.8 million to develop 1,000 linear feet of green space site into a wharf at the Bayport Terminal at Port Houston. This development includes installation of crane rail to facilitate the ability of existing cranes to operate on the newly developed wharf space. This project will enable the terminal to handle 2.4 million Twenty-Foot Equivalent Unit (TEU) container ships annually.
The Port of Corpus Christi will receive $17.6 million to fund Phase 1 of their plan to refurbish docks at the Avery Point terminal that is used by a number of the port’s customers to transload petroleum products. The project will double the capacity of Oil Dock 3, enabling the port to meet the growing demand for berth space to support exports of refined petroleum products. This project is located in an Opportunity Zone.